The challenge with assessing any set of results from Macquarie Group is one perspective. The half yearly numbers, like those announced on Friday, are almost always too magnified.

This is an empire with so many moving parts – across asset management, personal banking, capital markets, commodities – that a deal or two done either side of the end of the balance data, or a quarter of volatility in one sub-sector, can tend to exaggerate the picture presented.